Virginia Zeani

Virginia Zeani
Commendatore OMRI
Zeani in 1963
Born
Virginia Zehan

(1925-10-21)21 October 1925
Solovăstru, Romania
Died20 March 2023(2023-03-20) (aged 97)
West Palm Beach, Florida, US
Occupations
Years active1948–1982
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1957; died 1991)​
Children1
Awards
Websitevirginiazeani.org

Virginia Zeani Commendatore OMRI[1] (born Virginia Zehan; 21 October 1925 – 20 March 2023) was a Romanian-born opera singer who sang leading soprano roles in the opera houses of Europe and North America.

As a singer, she was known for her dramatic intensity and the beauty, wide range, and suppleness of her voice, which allowed her to sing a repertoire of 69 roles ranging from the heroines in belcanto operas by Rossini and Donizetti to those of Wagner, Puccini and Verdi. She also created roles in several 20th-century operas, including Blanche in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites.

Zeani made her professional debut in 1948 as Violetta in La traviata, which would become one of her signature roles; she performed this role over 640 times.[2]

After her retirement from the stage in 1982, she became a well-known voice teacher. She was married to the Italian bass Nicola Rossi-Lemeni from 1957 until his death in 1991. They both taught at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music for many years (and continued to teach singing privately afterwards).[3][4][5][6][7][8] She spent her last years in Palm Beach County, Florida.

  1. ^ Mesa, Franklin (2007). Opera: An Encyclopedia of World Premieres And Significant Performances, Singers, Composers, Librettists, Arias and Conductors, 1597–2000. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 450. ISBN 978-0-7864-0959-4.
  2. ^ Bergeron, Olivier (2 September 2015). "Interviewing the Greats: Virginia Zeani". Schmopera. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  3. ^ Eyman, Scott (11 September 2013). "The Quiet Diva: Virginia Zeani was one of the world's great opera singers – but gave up wider fame for life as a wife and mother" Archived 9 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine. The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  4. ^ Mesa, Franklin (2007). "Zeani (Zehan), Virginia", p. 450. Opera: An Encyclopedia of World Premieres and Significant Performances, Singers, Composers, Librettists, Arias and Conductors, 1597–2000. McFarland; ISBN 1476605378
  5. ^ Bagnoli, Giorgio (1993). "Zeani, Virginia", p. 381. The La Scala Encyclopedia of the Opera. Simon and Schuster; ISBN 0671870424
  6. ^ Stinchelli, Enrico (2002). Le stelle della lirica: i grandi cantanti della storia dell'opera, p. 85. Gremese Editore; ISBN 8884401925
  7. ^ Slonimsky, Nicolas; Kuhn, Laura; McIntire, Dennis (eds.) (2001). "Zeani (real name, Zahan), Virginia". Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Retrieved 18 February 2017 (subscription required)
  8. ^ Rosenthal, Harold and Blyth, Alan (2008). "Zeani, Virginia", p. 548 in The Grove Book of Opera Singers. Oxford University Press; ISBN 0195337654